Posted on 02/19/2023 12:31:21 AM PST by dennisw
Many of those commercials were filmed under the large “Worthington Ford in Long Beach” sign at the dealership he bought in 1963.
Now that sign has come to mark the end of an era. Worthington’s family said they have sold the 3-acre business, the last dealership still bearing the name of the legendary car salesman who died in 2012.
“It’s very sad,” Nick Worthington, Cal’s grandson, said in an interview with ABC7. “Our employees have been with us 40 plus years.
“It’s a part of everyone’s childhood and life growing up here,” he added. “It’s hard to close that book for everybody.”
On Saturday, Shawn Abdallah, finance director at the dealership, said news of the sale “came as a shock, although there had been rumors for a couple of months that something like this was in the works.”
“The rumors were confirmed on Thursday,” he said, “when Nick had everyone gather in a conference room here for an important message.
“He said, ‘You probably heard the rumors and today I am here to confirm them.’ ” Abdallah recalled. “He was very emotional. And yeah, there were tears all around.”
The buyer, Nouri/Shaver Automobile Group, plans to keep all the Worthington Ford employees, but they will have to reapply for their jobs, Abdallah said.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
January auto sales start strong but reveal changing landscape for dealers
“Author’s math skills were obviously learned in public schools.”
That’s exactly what I was thinking. That, or maybe they’re stoned.
I wonder if this place & its location was the inspiration for Johnny Carson’s long-running gag advertisement with the directions including “taking the Slawson cut-off”?
He used to name the towns in Arizona where people drove from after seeing his ads on cable. Worthington was one of a kind. Worthington Dodge, Worthington Ford, and his dog spot. “We get customers all the way from Yuma, Arizona.”
“Go see Cal,” the redone version of “If You’re Happy and You know It,” was a great Los Angeles icon. Turned up on all the channels, especially KTLA.
I remember seeing those ads in the 60s when I was watching Saturday morning cartoons in our living room in San Bernardino. Annoying as they were to a 10 yo kid at that time, they’ll be missed.
My dog Spot!
Sad. I remember seeing those commercials on my trips to CA. Very unique and entertaining. I especially remember one where he was lashed to the wing of a bi-plane.
Hahahahaha...you probably remember Wilmington Ford?
They used to fill the papers with the “$50 Down and $50 a Month for Five Years” cars! I was desperate and purchased one...a 1984 Ford Escort.
Worst. Purchase. Ever.
It skipped a few links on the timing belt (not a chain) in the middle of the Sumner Tunnel during rush hour. The engine was hosed, unrepairable. I still owed $1800 on the car.
I ended up having to pay to have it towed away, the people who advertised they would pay $100 for any car wouldn’t pay for that one. They called it a “throwaway car”.
Boy, were they right.
Lesson: When you live in The People’s Republic of Massachusetts, never buy a car from a 250 Lb. man wearing a cowboy hat, belt buckle the size of a dessert plate. a plaid sports coat, and bolo tie. Yes, that is how desperate I was.
on the next page is the coming reality.....
See Ford go, See Ford Go, See Ford go
There’s no mention as to why the dealership is going out of business. How much of California’s anti-business climate played a part?
The Ford war on dealers is responsible. It’s not just California
Dealers have been jacking up prices so high that Ford sales have declined and Ford market share has severely declined
Had a SIL who worked at that dealership.
Ha! We used to get the commercials in Glendale, Az. The first time we heard it, both my husband and I thought they were singing "Pussy Cal" and we never heard it any other way, even after realizing what the actual words were ... it still makes us laugh to this day!
Really? Small world.
As I recall, Cal’s dog spot was almost never a dog. Spot was usually some exotic animal like a lion or a chimp or even an orca.
Top Cat was good back then. Mighty Mouse too but more from the 50's that I liked. From age 5 on my parents let me buy all the paper comic books I liked. Why? Because they knew this is how I learned to read.
Hidee hi, there, friends and neighbors! This is your old pal, El Monte Slim, tellin’ ya’ll ta come on down here to Widetrack County in Wilmington. God damn, we got some outasight bargains here for ya in cars— and be sure to bring the kiddies, too, cause we got free pony rides and lollipops for all the little folks. Talk about suckers, look at this sucker over here! Yessirree Bob, that’s a ’58 Dodge pickup, white, of course. Gotchyer radio, gotchyer heater, gotcher overdrive, and it’s gotchyer Easy Rider rifle rack, yes sir, with room for not one, but thureee of your favorite rifles! Yes, sir! And be sure to ask for it by license plate number KKKU2, and for the first hundred of you mothers to c’mon down, we got a free America Love it or Leave It bumper sticker. So c’mon down and ask for El Monte Slim. And now back to our movie, The Jackson Five Story starring The Osmond Brothers.
—Cheech & Chong, 1991
lolzzzz... Especially the last line about the Osmond brothers. And the Jackson 5.
Cal's "dog Spot" was a spoof of Ralph William's German Shepherd "Storm" that used to appear with him on his commercials, usually sitting on the hood of one of the cars
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.